Author
Topic: Morning in the Woods (Read 1888 times)

Charon woke from a troubled sleep, the taste of sleep thick in his mouth. The images from his dreams twisted into smoke becoming something less than even a memory. The morning was comfortable, the smell of earth and leaves on a light breeze. Waking on the forest floor was not something Charon was used to. There was a feeling of peace in the air among them that was not there before. He wondered if perhaps he just didn't notice it before.

Eswarth was already awake when his small companion began to stir. It was early still, the others continued to sleep soundly.

Balorie's visit had replayed itself in Eswarth's mind through much of the remainder of the night. His sleep had come in fits and starts...enough to let him get through the night, but not enough that he could call himself rested.

He stoked the small campfire back to proper flames and waited somewhat impatiently for Charon to wake up.

Charon seldom dreamed, but when he did he embraced them. Unfortunately he could only recall scraps of this morning's dream. He was at work in the morgue, of that he was certain. However, rather than working on a corpse it was he who was being worked on. The experience itself was not entirely unpleasant. It was the technique being used that distracted him, aggressive and unprofessional. Charon could not be sure, as his memory of the event was slipping away, but he thought it might have been one or both of the gargun he had been forced to work with earlier that was performing his embalming.

As Charon sat up he turned to check the ground beneath where he had been sleeping. As expected, the grass and other nearby plant life had yellowed and wilted slightly. He hoped his companions would not notice but suspected something like that was unlikely to go unnoticed with Eswarth. Charon quickly gathered his things and moved away from the faded greenery nearly fumbling Collinsworth in his haste. "Sorry, friend. Perhaps I should attach a strap? No, it would be a nice one. Fine leather. Maybe a nice green to go with your eyes … or the eyes you once had."

"Eh, yes," Charon seemed to fumble over his words as if talking to the centaur required effort. "I am … nowhere … ah, going nowhere, that is. Just over there to, um, relieve myself." He never met Elswarth's gaze for more than an instant. Charon always had a hard time speaking with the living but was usually able to suppress his discomfort. Something about these centaurs made him extra uneasy.

Charon froze in his tracks. He looked to the giant horse-man as a sudden realization came to him. "It is acceptable to do that here, yes?" Charon asked reluctantly. "This is not a … a holy place for you, is it?"

Humans, being so young and short-lived a race, were always a bit odd to Eswarth. But this particular human was far more so. He seemed so frightened and unsure of himself. So much seemed to make him twitch and twitter.

"Just about every place is holy to someone or other, but you are in a forest, young friend." Eswarth replied. "Nothing is more natural."

"We must talk, though, before we can decide on our course today...come join me when you're done." He instructed his young companion.